Application Deadline: 4 February 2021 at 23:59 (Belgian time).
Ghent University wishes to support university research groups or research centres in developing countries (‘South’) in their aim to grow into excellent research centres by upgrading local academic personnel. Therefore Ghent University grants PhD scholarships (24 months) to promising PhD students from developing countries who wish to carry out half of their PhD research at Ghent University (‘North’) and half of their PhD research in a university in a developing country (‘South’).
Scholarship type, duration and funding
- These grants take the form of a so called “sandwich” scholarship: the candidate obtains a scholarship for 24 months to work (within a span of 48 months) on the PhD at Ghent University. Only for the periods the scholarship holder works at Ghent University the scholarship
holder will receive a monthly income from Ghent University. The rest (24 months) of the PhD research will be carried out at the partner university in the South, for which no funding is provided through this scholarship. - The grant is not renewable.
- The part of the research that will be executed in the South must be funded (e.g. local PhD scholarship or salary) by the partner institution in the South, or a(n) (inter)national government/funding agency/partner institution (excluding Ghent University*). In order to be eligible for this funding, students must be able to demonstrate that they have acquired funding or a grant for 24 months to fund the part of their research that will be carried out in the South.
- For the part of the PhD research executed in the South, candidates must also prove that they will be sufficiently exempted from teaching or other assignments as to be able to fully concentrate on their PhD research. Applicants are allowed to dedicate maximum 10% of their time (fulltime appointment) to other tasks (teaching and other tasks) while working on their PhD research in the South.
Mobility scheme
The scholarship holder can choose to divide the Ghent University scholarship into several research periods within a span of 4 years. The scholarship holder needs to respect the minimum sandwich schedule for this type of scholarship.
- Students need to start and end with a research stay of minimum 3 up to maximum 12 months in Ghent.
- The first research stay in Ghent needs to start between 1/10/2021 and 28/02/2022.
- At least 24 months of locally funded research stay in the South must be scheduled in between the first and last research stay in Ghent.
Degree
– Students are obliged to pursue a Ghent University PhD degree, either as a 100% Ghent University degree or as a Ghent University Joint PhD degree (in which case a joint PhD agreement with the partner university in the South must be signed after the start of the scholarship at the latest).
If the Ghent University grant holder receives a single PhD degree from another institution instead of Ghent University, the latter can reclaim the scholarship to the student.
To be admissible for this call, all of the following requirements must be met:
- Candidates need to come from – and have the nationality of – a developing country (see country list below).
- Students need to have the full support (and invitation) of a Ghent University professor who is willing to act as the supervisor of their PhD in Ghent. Without this support students cannot apply for this scholarship.
- Students must intend to obtain a Ghent University PhD degree, exchange PhD students are not eligible.
- There must be a guarantee that the candidate will be able to work on the PhD project at the partner university – situated in a developing country (see country list). This implies that there must be:
- A local PhD supervisor at the partner university or research centre.
- A written and signed statement from the partner university authorities stating that the candidate is either a PhD student or a staff member of this university/research centre and will receive a local (fulltime) scholarship or salary for a period of minimum 24 months when working on the PhD at the partner university in the South.
- The partner university in the South must also guarantee in this statement that the candidate will be sufficiently exempted from teaching or other assignments as to be able to fully concentrate on the PhD research while working in the South. Applicants are allowed to dedicate maximum 10% of their time (fulltime appointment) to other tasks (teaching and other tasks).
- Research proposals must be relevant for development in the partner country (in the South)
Language
– The applications for doctoral grants for candidates from developing countries must be submitted in English.
Submission
The application for doctoral grants for candidates from developing countries must be submitted on the
application form provided for this purpose at http://www.ugent.be/en/research/funding/phd/bof/dos/docos.htm
Add a copy of the following annexes to the application:
– records of study results and documents that prove the study results of the candidate, including a ranking and/or percentile score4
(preferably translated in English/French/German). An exception is made if the university cannot provide the ranking or percentile score but in that case a statement (letter, email) from a lawful representative ((vice-)rector, (vice-)director, dean, …) of that university is needed, explaining that they cannot deliver this kind of information.
- Note that a legalized copy of your diploma’s will be needed at the moment of admission/enrollment as a PhD student at Ghent University (which is a separate procedure from the application for funding, see for more information on how to legalize a diploma on:
http://www.ugent.be/en/teaching/admission/degreestudent/application/legalen.htm). - A written statement from a lawful representative of the partner university/institution concerning the cofinancing of the candidate’s PhD research at this university/institution
The Ghent University supervisor must submit the following 2 documents:
– An advice on the candidate, stating the supervisors opinion on the capability of the candidate as a future researcher. - An advice on the ethical and biosafety context of the proposed research project
These 2 advice documents are available on the same webpage as the application form. The supervisor has to send these as separate documents to BOFapplication@ugent.be.
– Ghent University supervisors can support maximum 2 candidates per call. In that case the candidates are of different gender to be both eligible.
– The deadline for doctoral grants for candidates from developing countries is: 4 February 2021 at 23:59 (Belgian time).
– The deadline will be strictly respected; late or incomplete applications will be rejected without review.
– The application form has to be submitted electronically via e-mail to BOFapplication@ugent.be (please use a pdf converted from the Word document and not a scanned pdf ).
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the Ghent University Doctoral Scholarships 2021
